Pac-12 Basketball Talk: Arizona Makes History; Haase in Trouble; Oregon a Mystery

Three questions with Pac-12 tournament and NCAA tournament fast approaching

---Question No. 1: How did Arizona become part of history by losing?

Second-ranked Arizona’s 16-point loss to unranked Colorado on Saturday was a stunner, but the Wildcats are still projected to be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. That’s because No. 1 Gonzaga lost to Saint Mary’s, No. 3 Auburn lost to Tennessee, No. 4 Purdue lost to Michigan State, No. 5 Kentucky lost to Arkansas and No. 6 Kansas lost to Baylor.

Never in the history of the Associated Press poll, which began in the 1948-49 season, had the top five ranked teams lost on the same day, let alone the top six.

So Arizona did its part in the history-making day. Two aspects of Arizona’s loss made it more troubling. It was one of just two losses by the top-six teams that came against an unranked foe, and was the only one it which the final margin was more than 10 points.

In fact both of Arizona’s conference losses were rather one-sided, with the Wildcats loss to UCLA was also being by 16 points.

---Question No. 2: Which Pac-12 coaches might get fired?

Five come to mind, but only one is in serious trouble.

Safe but Sorry

---Bobby Hurley, Arizona State – Things looked bleak for Hurley on Feb. 11, when the Sun Devils lost to Washington by 23 points, dropping ASU to 3-9 in the conference with Hurley’s one-game suspension for objectionable on-court behavior a few weeks earlier still getting negative attention. But the Sun Devils have won five of six games since, including a 24-point win over Oregon and a 17-road victory over Colorado. Even though ASU is likely to miss the NCAA tournament for a third straight season, Hurley has two more years left on his contract and is likely to be back.

---Mark Fox – Cal is 15-31 in Pac-12 games in Fox’s three seasons, and the Bears will finish near the bottom again this season. But Fox is getting a lot of leeway for coaching during the limitation imposed by the pandemic, and the Bears are better this season than last year even if their record isn’t. The road victory over Oregon and Saturday’s rout of Stanford give athletic director Jim Knowlton plenty of reasons to keep Fox around for at least another season.

---Mike Hopkins – Hopkins began the season on the hot seat after going 9-29 in Pac-12 play the past two seasons, but the Huskies have exceeded expectations this season, currently holding a 9-8 Pac-12 mark.

---Wayne Tinkle – Oregon State is on course for its worst season in history, and that’s saying something when it comes to Beavers’ basketball. Oregon State is 3-21, and trying to avoid a worse record than the 1995-96 Beavers, who went 4-23 for the worst record in school history. Oregon State has lost 14 games in a row, and the last one was a 39-point home loss to UCLA when Tinkle said the team “mailed it in.” And the Beavers were picked to finish fourth. All this would typically put a coach’s job in jeopardy, but for two reasons Tinkle is safe. 1. Oregon State was the Cinderella story of the 2021 NCAA tournament, getting to the Elite Eight. You can’t fire a coach one year after that. 2. Tinkle signed a lucrative contract extension after last season that runs through the 2026-27 season and includes a $1.5 million buyout.

Sorry but Not Safe

---Jerod Haase, Stanford – Barring a miracle run in the Pac-12 tournament, Stanford will miss the NCAA tournament for the sixth time in Haase’s six seasons as head coach. You might claim it’s harder to win at Stanford, but Mike Montgomery took the Cardinal to the NCAA tournament 10 years in a row, and Stanford finished ranked in the top three in the nation in three of those seasons. Granted Stanford has less access to the transfer pool, which has aided Oregon, Washington State and Arizona State, but Stanford’s recent collapse after being in the picture for an NCAA tournament berth is leaving an ugly mark. Stanford has lost five of its last six games, including that embarrassing loss to Cal on Saturday when the Cardinal managed just 39 points, its lowest scoring output in 16 years. That will make it difficult for athletic director Bernard Muir to keep Haase for another year unless the Cardinal shows something in its last few games.

---Question No. 3: Will Drew Peterson’s shot be the reason Oregon does not make the NCAA tournament?

Oregon was on the verge of completing a season sweep of both nationally ranked Los Angeles schools before USC’s Drew Peterson drained a three-point shot with 11.6 seconds left in the Trojans’ 70-69 victory on the Ducks’ home court.

If the Ducks had won that game, which would have given them four wins over UCLA and USC, they probably would be projected to be in the NCAA tournament field today. Instead they are on the outside looking in with road games against Washington and Washington State remaining before the conference tournament.

THE DAGGER FROM @DREWPETERSON23! 🔪 pic.twitter.com/vC6bHm8ob6
— USC Men's Basketball (@USC_Hoops) February 27, 2022

Top Five Pac-12 Teams (at the moment)

---1. Arizona (25-3, 15-2 Pac-12) – The Wildcats’ 16-point loss to Colorado is a bit troubling.

---2. USC (25-4, 14-4) – The Trojans keep winning close games. Five games in their current six-game win streak came down to the final few seconds.

---3. UCLA (21-6, 13-5) – A 39-point win is impressive, even if it’s against Oregon State.

---4. Colorado (19-10, 11-8) – The convincing win over Arizona lifts surging Buffaloes above Oregon.

---5. Oregon (18-11, 11-7) – The Ducks continue life on the bubble with games against Washington and Washington State this week.

Pac-12 Player of the Year Standings (The Magnificent Seven)

----1. Bennedict Mathurin, Arizona – Mathurin will remain on top unless Arizona falters badly – and that’s not happening.

---2. Jabari Walker, Colorado – Walker (14.4 points, 9.5 rebounds) shoots up these standings as Buffaloes shoot up the conference standings. He can do things like this:

❌ NOPE ❌

@jabari521

📺 ESPN2
📲 https://t.co/kcgr5EJHqS pic.twitter.com/0CCri2K9J8
— Colorado Men's Basketball (@CUBuffsMBB) February 27, 2022

---3. Terrell Brown Jr., Washington – Brown leads the Pac-12 in scoring at 21.5 points a game, but with the Huskies in the middle of the standings, he can’t get much higher

---4. Johnny Juzang, UCLA – The Bruins seem to win big whenever Juzang is sidelined, such as that 39-point win over Oregon State.

---5. Drew Peterson, USC – He’s averaging 20.2 points over the past five games and has taken over control of the team.

---6. Azuolas Tubelis, Arizona – His consistency is impressive.

---7. Isaiah Mobley, USC – Mobley (14.6 points, 8.4 rebounds) has better overall numbers than teammate Peterson but has not been the go-to guy.

Player of the Week:

Drew Peterson, USC

A close call over Arizona State’s Jay Heath, who averaged 18.5 points while making 14-of-21 shots, including 6-for-11 on three-pointers, in the Sun Devils’ two wins, but Peterson gets the nod based on his game-winning three-point shot against Oregon, which augmented his 21.5-point average in USC’s two wins.

Team on the Rise

---Colorado (19-10, 11-8) – Colorado and Arizona State are both on a steep climb, but the Buffaloes finished off their current run of six wins in the last seven games with a 16-point win over Arizona.

Team on the Skids

---Stanford (15-13, 8-10) – It wasn’t long ago that Stanford was projected to be in the NCAA tournament field, but the Cardinal has lost five of its last six games and that 53-39 loss to Cal on Saturday demonstrated how far Stanford has sunk.

Team on a Mystery Tour

---Oregon (18-11, 11-7) – Any game is a potential win or a potential loss for the Ducks. Over the past six games, they lost at home to Cal by 14 points and lost by 24 points to Arizona State. But in that span they also beat UCLA for the second time this season, nearly beat Arizona in Tucson and came within a point of defeating USC for the second time.

Numbers of Note:

2 – Points scored by Oregon’s best player, Will Richardson, in Saturday’s one-point loss to USC.

0 – Number of field goals made by Richardson in eight shot attempts against USC. His eighth shot, which came at the buzzer, would have won the game if it had gone in.

3-for-21 – Richardson’s field goal line for the two games last week against UCLA and USC.

6 – Number of times during its 14-game losing streak that Oregon State has lost by 20 points or more.

2 – Number of field goals Stanford made in its first 22 shot attempts in its 53-39 loss to Cal on Saturday.

7-0 – USC’s record in games decided by five points or fewer this season, and that includes 5-0 in games decided by three points or fewer.

30 – Years since Colorado beat a top-two team before defeating No. 2 Arizona on Saturday.

Quotes of the Week

"Boy, the difference between just two nights is incredible. Our energy level on offense and defense tonight was off the charts.” – Colorado head coach Tad Boyle following a 16-point win over No. 2 Arizona, which came two days after a 17-point loss to Arizona State, which was in ninth place in the Pac-12 standings at the time.

“Their students were swearing at our players and throwing things in the tunnel afterwards, but we came through with a big road win.” – USC coach Andy Enfield after Saturday’s one-point win at Oregon.

“I don’t care if everybody goes pro, while you’re here, play your ass off and play with excitement.” – UCLA’s Mick Cronin after a 39-point win over Oregon State.

Cover photo of Evan Battey by Rob Chenoy, USA TODAY Sports

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